For the Tufts baseball team, the weekend against Amherst was about doing the hard things well. No frills, no fireworks — just a group of players digging in, fighting back and finding something that had been missing in the early part of the season. A quiet Friday gave way to a spirited Sunday, and the Jumbos dropped the opener but roared back with a doubleheader sweep to take the series. It was a weekend that showed Tufts still has the fight — and the talent — to compete when the margins tighten.
Friday’s frustration
The tone on Friday afternoon at Amherst’s Memorial Field was set early. Graduate student pitcher Silas Reed worked his way through a couple of clean innings, but the wheels came off in the third. Four consecutive Amherst hits plated two runs and gave them control of the game. Tufts managed one run — first-year catcher Nick Banner knocked in sophomore first baseman AJ Lysko after a defensive miscue — but that was about all the offense the team could muster.
Reed battled through six innings, allowing 12 hits and four runs, but kept Tufts within striking distance by limiting the damage in later frames. Still, the offense faltered. Tufts hitters struck out five times, and only three times did they advance a runner into scoring position. First-year pitcher Emmet Christian allowed one more run in relief, and the Jumbos’ final three innings at the plate were forgettable, only recording one hit.
Amherst’s aggressive approach at the plate paid off, scattering 16 hits overall, with infielder Tyler McCord leading the way with a 3-for-4 day and two RBIs. Meanwhile, Tufts’ bats never found a rhythm. Final score: Amherst won 5–1.
It wasn’t the way they drew it up. But Tufts would have two chances to flip the script on Sunday.
Doubleheader Game 1: A walk-off to remember
Senior pitcher Connor Podeszwa got the nod in the seven-inning opener and, despite a few bumps, delivered when it counted. Amherst outfielder Leo Foust greeted him rudely, launching a solo homer to left field in the first inning. Podeszwa settled down quickly, mixing his pitches effectively, though Amherst added two more in the fourth after a leadoff walk and a two-out rally.
Tufts began chipping away in the bottom half of the fifth. Graduate student catcher Connor Brala recorded a single, made his way to third after a fielder’s choice and came home on a wild pitch to make it 3–2.
In the bottom of the seventh, still trailing 3–2, Brala led off with a single up the middle, and sophomore catcher Pierson Cooper entered as a pinch runner. Lysko followed by drawing a walk, advancing Cooper into scoring position. After a fly out and a foul out, senior outfielder Ben Leonard was hit by a pitch to load the bases. That set the stage for senior outfielder Cooper Smith, who ripped a double to left-center field, scoring Cooper and Lysko and sealing a dramatic 4–3 walk-off win for the Jumbos.
Doubleheader Game 2: Lapp’s gem
If Game 1 was dramatic, Game 2 was clinical. Senior pitcher Jacob Lapp took the mound and authored a masterpiece. Nine innings, one run, just one hit allowed. Efficient and ruthless, he mowed down 23 straight Amherst batters after allowing a second-inning RBI groundout.
The offense backed him early. In the second, first-year infielder James Henshon doubled, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Lysko. Banner was hit by a pitch and eventually came around to score on a two-out RBI single from graduate student infielder Ozzie Fleischer, giving Tufts an early 2–1 lead.
In the fourth, junior outfielder Owen McKiernan doubled to lead off the inning, and after a walk to Lysko, senior infielder Henry Fleckner delivered an RBI single through the left side to extend the lead to 3–1.
Tufts tacked on one more in the fifth. Smith was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a single by Henshon and scored on another clutch RBI single by McKiernan, making it 4–1.
Lapp took it from there. He closed out the 4–1 win on just 89 pitches.
Rejuvenated Jumbos
This was a series the Jumbos needed. Heading into the weekend, Tufts had floated below the .500 mark, struggling to string together consistent play. Friday’s loss could have snowballed. Instead, it steeled them.
Lapp’s complete game was inarguably the team’s best pitching performance of the year so far. Podeszwa’s resilience set the tone early Sunday. And offensively, while the big innings weren’t there, Tufts manufactured runs with gritty, heads-up baseball: aggressive baserunning, clutch situational hitting and smart execution when it mattered.
They’ll need more of it. The schedule ahead only gets tougher, as they head back into NESCAC play after a difficult loss to No. 5 ranked Endicott.
Big picture
At 10–12, the Jumbos still have plenty of room to grow. Consistency — both at the plate and on the mound — remains the goal. But winning a weekend like this, against a capable Amherst squad, shows that Tufts has more in the tank than their record suggests.
Leonard wrote to the Daily about the importance of the bounce-back effort. “Having a day of practice in between the games was a good time to reset and regain focus,” Leonard said. “Stealing two games from a good baseball program in a day is the exact direction we want to be trending. Going forward we obviously look to take all three games, starting with striking first on Friday.”
Podeszwa, Lapp and the pitching staff showed they can anchor games. The lineup, while still finding its full identity, proved it can manufacture enough offense when it matters most. The road ahead doesn’t get easier, but Tufts heads into the heart of their schedule with momentum finally on their side.
